GHL Blog Rotating Header Image

May 7th, 2012:

Land Records: Headrights

picture of Hawthorne Road in Raleigh, NC

The headright system of land grants was very common throughout the American colonies and in some places was also known as landright.  The system was used in North Carolina until 1712 when the practice was abolished here.  In summary, headrights gave each grantee a particular amount of land based on the number of people they brought into the colony.  Although land could be purchased outright during this time, obtaining land through headright was much more common.

(more…)

This blog is a service of the State Library of North Carolina, part of the NC Department of Cultural Resources. Blog comments and posts may be subject to Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.